UNOSOM II

UNOSOM II (26 March 1993-28 March 1995) was the second phase of the United Nations intervention in Somalia, following Operation Restore Hope.

The United States-led Unified Task Force (UNITAF) occupied most of the major cities of coastal southern Somalia during "Operation Restore Hope", and some Somali factions had signed the March 1993 Addis Ababa Agreement to end the civil war. However, the civil war continued as the factions continued to splinter into new ones, and UNOSOM II replaced UNITAF in May 1993. UNOSOM II had a strength of 22,000 troops and 8,000 logistic and civilian staff from a diverse array of countries, including a 1,167-strong US Quick Reaction Force from Carrier Strike Group 6.

On 5 June 1993, a Pakistani peacekeeping force was attacked by United Somali Congress militia while attempting to investigate one of Mohamed Farrah Aidid's arms depots, leaving 24 peacekeepers dead. The UN responded by declaring war on Aidid and his army, and the US started attacking targets in Mogadishu on 12 June 1993, hoping to find Aidid. The hunt for Aidid characterized much of the UNOSOM II intervention, and the increasing tempo of military operations carried out in Mogadishu also led to an escalation in the number of civilian deaths. The Somali people began to see the UN troops as foreign interlopers. On 12 July 1993, a US helicopter attack on a meeting of Somali clan leaders in a Mogadishu building left many civilians dead, leading to four Reuters and Associated Press journalists being beaten to death by a Somali mob. Somalis upset with the UN's ability to disarm the warlords began to side with the warlords against the UN, and Islamism began to rise as militia leaders began to use religion as a rallying point for anti-UN sentiment.

With each failure to apprehend Aidid, the militias grew more bold, and warlords began to reassert their control over Mogadishu. Somali militias began to target the peacekeepers, and, on 8 August, four American soldiers were killed when their vehicle was bombed by Aidid's militia. In response, President Bill Clinton sent 400 US Army Rangers and Delta Force operatives to start a manhunt for Aidid, codenamed "Operation Gothic Serpent". What ensued was the longest, bloodiest, and deadliest battle for the US forces in Somalia, the Battle of Mogadishu. 18 US soldiers were killed, and their dead bodies were filmed being dragged through the streets by Somali mobs. The American public was horrified and infuriated, and, on 7 October 1993, President Clinton called for the withdrawal of all US forces in Somalia by 31 March 1994. US forces completely withdrew on 3 March 1994, 28 days earlier than expected. Italy, Belgium, France, and Sweden also withdrew their troops at that time. On 4 November 1994, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to withdraw its peacekeeping forces, and US ships off the coast of Somalia oversaw the evacuation of the last of the UNOSOM forces in March 1995.

Over the next few months, ceasefire talks were held, but to no avail. Aidid was killed in August 1996, and his son, Hussein Farrah Aidid, took over the USC. In December 1997, Aidid and rival warlords agreed to launch reconciliation conferences in February 1998 and to prepare a transitional government charter.

UNOSOM II was not an abject failure, as an estimated 100,000 lives were saved. However, its execution was mismanaged, and 64 UNOSOM personnel were killed during the mission.